Sarah Palin aborts visit to Bethlehem

Sarah Palin has emerged at the centre of a potentially embarrassing mystery
when she abruptly aborted a visit to Bethlehem just yards from an Israeli
checkpoint guarding the entrance to the city of Christ's birth.

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Sarah Palin looks out over the Mount of Olives and the Old City of JerusalemPhoto: EPA

Mrs Palin, whose trip to the Holy Land is being seen as an attempt to burnish her foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible presidential bid, had been planning to tour Christian sites before holding evening talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

Bethlehem was supposed to be her first stop of the day, according to a leaked copy of her schedule.

But, after an uneventful drive from her hotel in nearby Jerusalem, her car stopped just short of the main Israeli military checkpoint outside Bethlehem, a Palestinian city in the West Bank, appeared to hesitate and then performed a u-turn.

Israeli military officials declined to comment on why Mrs Palin may have turned back, but the country's defence ministry confirmed that she had made no formal request to visit the occupied West Bank – standard protocol for any foreign dignitary.

The oversight could prove embarrassing for Mrs Palin's advisers, who are unused to planning for foreign visits and have a reputation for being poorly organised.

It is unclear whether Mrs Palin and her team failed to realise that Bethlehem lay on Palestinian territory rather than in Israel, a mistake often made by foreign tourists, though not so often by visiting politicians.

The day before, Mrs Palin visited Jerusalem's Wailing Wall, the only surviving remnant of the platform on which the Jewish temple of antiquity once stood.

"Israel is absolutely beautiful and it is overwhelming to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith and I am so grateful to get to be here," she said.

"I'm very thankful to know that the Israeli and American link will grow in strength as we seek peace along with you."